In Macbeth, William Shakespeare wrote about "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Too bad the bard isn't around to comment on the goings-on these days in Lansing, where the sound and fury is loud, and maybe we have a balanced budget … and maybe we don't.
The most optimistic scenario [...]

For weeks, news from the state capital has been dominated by our lawmakers' battles to balance the state’s budget before a threatened government shutdown. Unfortunately, they — and the media — have missed what should have been the main point.
Granted, balancing the budget is important and legally necessary. But here's what all too many of [...]

I had a long conversation the other day with John Hertel, the CEO of the Southeastern Michigan’s Regional Transit Coordinating Council. Naturally, we talked about mass transit.
If the polls are to be believed, mass transit is very popular with people, both in Detroit and in the suburbs. It’s been a proven contributor to economic development [...]

We are in an age of necessary belt-tightening, budget-cutting and grumpy cynicism. And it is very tempting to join those who argue that most things government does aren’t really worth it.
And it's true enough that Lansing has made some pretty poor choices. But some of those haven't been spending decisions, but penny-wise and pound foolish [...]

Last week's news that former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara had died in his sleep stirred special memories for me.
McNamara was nationally important and very controversial. He was the chief architect of the war in Vietnam, and to a large extent he was the focus of the ferocious debate that [...]